Page 6 of The Void

His entire life, he’d seen visions of the god bringing about the destruction of the world. He’d spent most of his adult life shifting his world around to prevent the end, like game pieces in a battle.

Moros had used his son, Scott, as a vessel to sneak into the real world. But when Selene had confessed her love for Scott, that had given her “ownership” of Scott, allowing them to beat Moros. At least temporarily.

Selene had confirmed that Moros was not able or allowed to possess what was no longer his. Selene and Scott loved one another, and the old magic of belonging to your loved ones won out in the end.

Looking around the Void, Lucas frowned at the vast flat land filled with caramel-colored sand. When he called out to Mia, he was shocked to hear a response.

“She is not here,” a voice said on the wind.

“Where is she?” he asked.

“Over the mountains, you must travel, over the sea, you must sail, in order to find the djinn who holds the keys,” the voice chanted, and then died out.

“I don’t have time—” he started, but he gasped when two large iron shackles appeared on his wrists.

“You are bound to power,” a new voice said much closer. “And power is to thee. Until she sets you free, you must come with me.” A large creature with arms and legs the length of a football field appeared before him. It was hairless, eyeless, and mouthless. Its head was almost twenty stories above him. Its bulk blocked out the two suns that hung low in the sky.

Where in the hell had that thing appeared from? Why hadn’t he seen it moments ago when he’d looked around?

It was then that he realized the shackles were attached to a chain held by the large creature.

“Let me go.” He tried to pull against the chains with the superior strength that he’d had all of his life. When that didn’t work, he tried to fly, something else he’d done for as long as he could remember. But he couldn’t even jump high.

“Your power has no strength. You are as weak as a babe. I will take you to her. We shall see what we see.” The being started tugging on the chain, pulling Lucas along the sandy ground.

Suddenly, he realized that he had no powers in Mia’s world. The only one with the power to save him now was Mia. The woman he’d come here to rescue.

How in the hell was he supposed to survive?

She’d made him and the others believe that there was nothing on this world. Hence the name.

Why call it the Void if there was something here?

He stumbled a few times trying to keep up with the large creature’s pace. In the end, he was dragged most of the time.

Half of his time was spent in the air, swinging between the creature’s gigantic legs as it walked. The other half, his feet dragged against the sand.

His arms and wrists hurt where the chains pulled him and he was desperate for food, water, sleep, and a piss.

When the giant leather-skinned creature stopped walking, they had reached the base of the mountains. Both the suns had finally sunk behind the peaks, cooling the evening off. He was slightly surprised to see three rather large moons rising in the sky. They were so close to one another that he wondered if they ever touched. But after getting a good look at them for a moment, he realized they were all on different orbits. The largest moon was far behind the smaller two and easily ten times the size of the first one.

“I cannot travel in rocks, you see. I am a creature of sand and sea,” the creature said.

Lucas looked up as the chain started to slip from the beings’ hands.

Finally, he was going to be able to break free.

He prepared himself to run, but just then another hand reached out from the tree line and easily caught the chain.

This creature was much smaller than the first but still as large as a house. It had skin made of the soft green moss usually found on forest floors or the sides of tree trunks. There were even small bird-like creatures flying around and landing on it.

Lucas couldn’t see a face, much like with the other being, but something told him this creature had one.

“I will meet you on the mountain’s other side. Until then, my sister will be your guide,” the tan creature added.

Lucas watched the large creature that had been his captor disappear into the sand as if the entire floor opened up and swallowed it in one quick, silent swoosh. No wonder he hadn’t seen it sneak up on him. It had most likely come up from the sand without him knowing.

“Come, mortal,” the new voice said. “We have much ground to cover.”